So much has happened since my last post that I haven’t had time to tell you about it. And we also had computer trouble, which still isn’t quite fixed but at least our internet is back now.
Sparkie is in training to become a service dog. Not just any service dog, my service dog. We found an organization that helps me train her myself, and when our training is complete Sparkie will be a certified service dog. We’ve come so far in our five weeks of training, but I know there’s still further to go.
We’ve gone into the shopping mall a few times, and the library, and Target, and the post office. Mostly, Sparkie’s acting like she’s been doing it all her life, and it’s easy to forget she’s still learning. Occasionally she’ll mess up, break her stay or beg attention from a stranger who stops to chat, and I’ll remember we’ve only been doing this five weeks. She’s enjoying all the time she gets to spend with me and I’m finding her more and more responsive to my commands.
As you read this, I can just hear you thinking, why does she need a service dog? I have some issues that interfere with my life, and as a service dog, Sparkie will help me cope with them. For now, that’s all you need to know.
Our ultimate plan has always been to travel over the winter and work over the summer, but for the past five years we haven’t managed to get a job at the right time. This summer we decided to try again. It took several weeks, but Daddy’s finally got an interview to go to on Monday. Fingers crossed it goes well and we get to spend the summer working on a dairy farm!
We’ve been staying at a showground for the last few weeks, and slowly people have got to know us and now they keep bringing us food – last night we were given hotdog rolls and sausages! And one guy, a semi-retired builder, had heard about us from someone else, and he’s lending a hand to build our bunks. Not only is he putting the bunks together, but he’s also paying for all the timber!
And so the first week of November ends and my 17th birthday is in eighteen days, and Christmas is four weeks after that, and then it’s the end of 2013. It feels like just the other day we were in Ariah Park, NSW, and I was recovering from some bug than kept me in bed the last three days of 2012 and the first four days of 2013. It’s been a busy year, but it seems to have been very short.
In the next post – the outcome of Daddy’s interview, how Sparkie’s service dog training works, and how the bunks look!
No comments:
Post a Comment